


“I found it in the recycling bin.”

by courageous_boss



Series: Three Birds and a Baby (a Batfamily AU) [11]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Damian is a precious child, Gen, Tim is a snoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-18 11:51:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18120251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/courageous_boss/pseuds/courageous_boss
Summary: It's Parent's Day at Damian's school. He prepares himself to make a difficult choice.Tim doesn't make it any easier for him.





	“I found it in the recycling bin.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ages:  
> Damian – 12  
> Dick – 24  
> Tim – 15
> 
> Damian refers to Dick as ‘ekhwah’, which is Arabic for brother. [source](https://qr.ae/TUr7TJ)

The way Damian saw it, someone had to get hurt.

He couldn’t let it be Father. The man had the emotional intelligence of a peanut; despite wearing his heart on his sleeve, he never seemed to understand what he was feeling or why. If he hadn’t been responsible for raising three traumatized children (four if you count Tim), Damian doubted that Father would have even managed to maintain the limited emotional spectrum he was currently limited to.

But his Father was trying – really trying, not just pretending to keep up some sort of fatherly façade. No matter how difficult it was for him, Damian could always count on Father to push past his own discomfort to connect with him on an emotional level.

Damian couldn’t bring himself to hurt the man.

On the other hand, when his teacher had first explained the situation, Damian had immediately imagined his brother sitting at his side. He hadn’t even consciously decided it – he just _knew_ that if anyone belonged there with him, it was his ekhwah.

Damian trusted his ekhwah to be able to handle it if he took Father instead, but he wasn’t sure if _he_ was able to. He couldn’t picture a scenario where he introduced his parent to his teacher and his ekhwah wasn’t there.

Damian couldn’t bring himself to not acknowledge the role his ekhwah played in his family.

Aware of how dramatic he was being, Damian pulled in a deep sigh and exhaled loudly. Why was life always so complicated? What fool had even come up with such an idea as a Parent-Teacher Meeting? Was it not enough that he was forced to spend most of his day consumed with boredom and pointless exercises? Did they really have to make him choose which parent he liked more?

Damian sighed again, indulging in his tragic situation. He thought it over for a few moments more before coming to the only peaceful conclusion. He crumpled the paper and tossed it into his waste bin.

There was no way he’d be able to pick Father over his brother, nor his brother over Father. He watched the ball land at its target and resigned himself to facing Parent’s day alone.

 

* * *

 

Tim hadn’t gone into Damian room _specifically_ to go through his trash.

He had better things to do with his time.

No matter what the prickly prepubescent Wayne said.

He’d been looking for Damian – it was either fetch Damian or pull Bruce away from whatever case had him holed away in the Cave for the last four hours, so Tim had chosen the lesser of two evils – but Damian wasn’t in any of his usual haunts. After checking the TV room, the library and even poking his head through the window and yelling Damian's name into the backyard had been fruitless, Tim had gone looking in his room. 

He hadn’t even been looking through Damian's stuff. But, he’d recognize the Gotham Middle School stationary anywhere. It was always good to have blackmail material over Damian, so Tim had plucked the paper out and uncurled it.

Immediately he knew what the problem was, and he was surprised to find himself feeling sorry for the surly, scowly Damian Wayne. He’d had a similar problem back when he’d had to take that form back home too. Except while Tim was sure that Damian's dilemma was an overabundance of parents, Tim’s had been a lack of. Neither of his parents had wanted to clear their schedules for that day and Tim had ended up going to Parent’s day with his home Tutor.

Strangely fond of Damian and his repressed behaviour, Tim smoothened out the paper and folded it away in his pocket. If there was any doubt that he was Bruce’s son, their shared awkwardness when faced with sentiment was evidence enough.

 

* * *

 

“I don’t understand,” Dick frowned, eyebrows pinched in confusion. “Why wouldn’t Damian tell us about this?”

Tim’s gaze flicked over to Bruce long enough to know that Bruce had grasped the situation already.

Taking his cue, Bruce put in, “I can’t be sure, but I think Damian doesn’t want to have to choose between his two parents.”

When Tim nodded, Dick only grew more confused. Then, his eyes darkened, “You think he would have wanted Talia?”

Bruce looked shaken at the idea and Tim couldn’t stop from sniggering at the two men before him.

“Don’t laugh, Timmy,” Dick tried to scold, but he couldn’t keep his own amusement at Bruce’s expression from his voice.

“You’re buffoons, the two of you,” Tim teased, preening under the attention when Dick pulled him in for a gentle, fond noogie.

“I think what Tim is trying to say is that Damian needs to pick…,” Bruce’s trailed off, voice tight and cheeks colouring with a light pink. He looked completely pleased with himself and stared at Dick with soft eyes.

Tim was still tucked under Dick’s arm. He cuddled in closer until Dick was hugging him before he said, “Damian wants Bruce there. But I think he also wants _you_.”

Dick’s eyebrows lifted, and his mouth fell open in shock. “Me?”

“Don’t look so surprised,” Tim admonished lightly. “You take care of him, love him, protect him. Why wouldn’t he want you there?”

Dick squeezed Tim tighter, snuggling him.

“I don’t understand why he didn’t just tell us this himself,” Bruce said, rereading the paper.

Tim chuckled, head resting against Dick’s chest, his strong, steady arms wrapped around him. “Oh, I think I do.”

 

* * *

 

“You went through my trash!” Damian roared, cheeks red and angry.

“It wasn’t me!” Dick insisted. “It was Timmy!”

“Tt,” Damian glared at the teenager, “Pleb.”

“Hey!” Tim said, affronted.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” Bruce cut in. “He was just trying to help, Damian. Please refrain from insulting him.”

“Tt.”

“Dami? Can you explain why you hid this from us?” Dick asked calmly, no judgement in his voice.

Damian crossed his arms over his chest. “Tt.”

“We’re not mad,” Bruce assured. “We’re just trying to understand.”

“Because!” Damian burst, arms thrown in the air and a sheen of tears over his eyes. “I can’t pick!”

“Dami, please,” Dick tried, voice shaky. “Calm down. No one’s upset with you.”

Dick reached out to grab Damian's shoulder, but the boy pulled away jerkily. Tim’s felt as though his insides had been hollowed out as the first few tears spilled down Damian's flushed cheeks.

“Father, I didn’t want to hurt you. I am grateful for all you have done for me and I couldn’t ask for anything more from you,” Damian said, voice tight. “You deserved to be there with all the other parents. I’m sorry I didn’t invite you.”

To Dick, Damian said, much softer and much more shakily, “There was no invite for brothers, but I didn’t want to go without you there too. I’m sorry.”

With his tears flowing much more readily, Damian turned and fled.

Tim watched his small, retreating figure, stomach churning with guilt. Over his head, Bruce and Dick shared a knowing, albeit amused, look.

 

* * *

 

Damian hadn’t thought either of them would have left him alone after he’d started crying like a little baby, so he’d scrubbed his face dry and sat primly on the edge of his bed while he waited. Surely, they all thought he was a drama freak. Who started bawling like a child over something so small? Worst of all – Tim had been there. There was no way he was going to live this down.

There was a knock on the door, three short, successive raps, before Dick’s voice came muffled through the wood, “Damian? Can we come in please?”

Damian passed his thumb under his red, swollen eyes one last time before he allowed it.

His father was the first to cross the distance and take up a seat beside him. By the time Damian had his father’s arm nestled over his shoulder, his ekhwah was sitting on his opposite side and rubbing a calming hand over his back.

“I apologize for the hysterics,” Damian said stiffly in a vain attempt to maintain nonchalance. “I overreacted.”

Dick sighed softly before he chuckled.

Damian's head whipped to the side, a betrayed look painted on his face. “You’re laughing at me?!”

When his father chuckled too, Damian felt betrayal curling in his stomach.

“I’m sorry Damian, but you’re just so cute,” Dick pinched Damian's already red cheek, grinning when the boy grouched and batted his hand away automatically.

“Damian? Did you read the letter that your teacher gave you? Or did you just throw it away immediately?” Bruce asked, mirth still lifting his voice.

“Of course I read it,” Damian said defensively. He rattled off, “Dear Parent or Guardian, you are invited to Parent’s day, blah, blah, blah, Friday afternoon, blah, blah, blah, refreshments provided.”

“Are you sure you didn’t miss a part?” Dick teased. “Just a tiny little part?”

“Maybe the part about how both parents were invited to come?” Bruce asked.

Damian blinked. “Both?”

Dick pulled Damian in for a side hug, burying his nose in Damian's soft head of hair. “Both. Usually for mothers and fathers, but I’m sure they won't mind brothers.”

“Wait, I can have both of you?” Damian asked, words echoing in his head.

Bruce smiled that tiny smile of his that showed off only teasing and amusement. “Anytime you want us.”

The flash of a camera went off and all three of them startled. Tim, standing in the doorway with his phone in his hands looked guilty for a few seconds. That quickly turned to horror when Damian stood up and began chasing him.

“Timothy!” Damian yelled, waggling his hand in the air like a grumpy old man.

As Tim and Damian raced out of the room, Dick and Bruce shared another knowing look.

 

* * *

 

Damian was beaming. All dressed up in his fancy school uniform with a blazer and a tiny tie. He couldn’t stop smiling as they walked around the room, talking to all of his teachers. On one shoulder, he had Bruce Wayne, the tallest, biggest, wealthiest man in the room. His father. On the other shoulder, he had Richard Grayson, the most handsome, kindest, funniest man in the room. His ekhwah.

When they finally made their way over to Damian's art teacher, the pretty lady smiled at them. “Damian, these must be your parents?”

Damian locked eyes with each of them before nodding surely. “Yes. Both of them.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> This reads like crack but most definitely _did_ happen.


End file.
